LUBBOCK, Texas — The Lubbock City Council on Tuesday set a hearing date for November 14 at 9:00 a.m. to make a decision on an ordinance that would decriminalize low-level, personal use marijuana in the Hub City. The meeting will be at Citizens Tower.
EverythingLubbock.com previously reported on November 2, the Freedom Act Lubbock’s petition was verified to have the required number of valid signatures needed to bring it to the city council. Lubbock Compact started organizing the efforts in February, and the petition kicked off in August.
Adam Hernandez with Lubbock Compact described Tuesday as a formality for the council to receive all papers needed from the City Secretary. The petition was also officially certified to have the necessary amount of verified signatures.
The petition contained 10,450 signatures. The requirement for this initiative was 4,800 valid signatures.
“We are not asking you to decriminalize pounds or marijuana, or to not protect our city,” Anna Keel with Lubbock Compact told the council. Keel said they did not believe local law enforcement needed to waste resources on low-level amounts of marijuana under a certain weight.
Councilman Mark McBrayer for District 3 told EverythingLubbock.com, “From my perspective, really what they’re asking the city to do, and our police officers to do is not enforce the law.”
McBrayer said he planned to vote against the ordinance. McBrayer also said, “I think it’s important that citizens do know they do have a right to petition their city council or any form of government for whatever grievances or ordinances they want.”
Hernandez encouraged the public to come make their voices heard. With the overwhelming support through the petition, Hernandez said that shows the need for the ordinance.
“I would hope that they take away from it that as well, that there’s widespread support for this issue, there’s a lot of people concerned with that,” Hernandez said.
If you can’t attend in person, Hernandez said citizens can call or email their council person, and the City Secretary’s Office.
